The Censoring of “Big Boss”: Rakhi Sawant, nobody’s sister!

Censorship in Indian television broadcasting is back and how!

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has decided to unveil its Puritan ways.

Big Boss IV of Colors fame has been relegated to the 11 pm to 5 am slot.

It seems Rakhi Sawant’s “vulgar language” on her show “Rakhi Ka Insaaf” too has dissuaded the powers-that-be from considering her as a nice sister who will knot ‘rakhis’ on their heavy hands.

I haven’t actually caught any episodes of either reality shows (not that I had earlier!). Last night’s “Bossy” affair had giant muscle-bound Khali playing bully-boy but wonder of wonders, the bullied weren’t intimidated! In the background, the ‘bleep, bleep’ of censored language conveyed the heated state of the participants.

Throw in a few strangers with giant egos in an artificial pressure-cooker environment ,forced participation and deliberate aggravation ;the producers believed that it would provide mass entertainment.

Come on! Give me and our much-maligned audiences a break! Once the novelty wore out, the participants were soon exposed to be the 15-minutes-of-fame seeking mini-celebrities they were.

Do we really wish to ape the West in everything we do? Not all American shows translate well and Big Boss—based on Big Brother— is one of them.

The shifting of Big Boss to the wee hours of the night is probably the best thing to happen to Indian television in recent times. Do we really wish to suffer through foul language—bleeped out as it may be— and non-acting on prime time? I think not! Give me fiction any time! Need I harp on this?